Sooner we tap domestic supplies, the better

By Joe Sparano

President Bush's decision to lift the 18-year-old executive order on offshore oil development has started an important national dialogue that recognizes energy supply really matters.

For decades, America's informal energy policy has been to “just say no!” to safe and sane development of much of the nation's vast oil and natural gas resources. During this period, our nation and the world grew and prospered at unprecedented rates, fueling a strong increase in energy demand.

The result has been an increased dependence on imports from foreign governments subject to political upheaval, with some hostile to U.S. interests.

Concern about disruption of energy from volatile regions of the globe is one of the reasons experts say crude oil costs have increased dramatically. We believe bringing additional supplies to consumers – especially from areas that are reliable and firmly within the control of the United States – will send an important message to global energy markets.

No one can say for certain that more oil supplies would lower crude oil or gasoline prices. But history, logic and economic fundamentals suggest that adding reliable supplies of energy to an uncertain market where demand is outpacing supply would be welcome news for consumers.

Recent polls suggest American consumers are beginning to change their thinking about the benefits of making better use of all our state's energy resources. If and when they decide to support exploration and development of the large oil and natural gas reserves off our coasts, the petroleum industry has the experience, the technology and the trained people to bring those vital energy supplies to consumers safely and with environmental sensitivity.

Our industry today operates offshore facilities with extraordinary care and attention to safety. We have developed sophisticated technologies and equipment that constantly monitor activities and give advanced warning if anything is awry.

The proof of this commitment to safety and the environment is our record over the past 38 years. According to the Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service, since 1970 oil facilities in U.S. waters off the California coast have produced nearly 1 billion barrels of oil and spilled just 850 barrels into the marine environment.

But put into perspective, that is 28 barrels a year. In comparison, a network of natural oil seepages just off the coast of Santa Barbara introduces an estimated 55,000 barrels of crude oil into the ocean every year – more oil every week than has spilled from offshore activities in the last 38 years.

It's clear we can't just drill our way to energy security. That's why oil companies are spending billions to develop unconventional petroleum fuels and alternative fuels and technologies to augment our petroleum-based supplies. It's why we encourage all consumers to conserve energy and use it as efficiently as possible.

There are no quick solutions to get us out of the energy supply hole it took us decades to dig. If we are serious about improving U.S. energy security and providing adequate, reliable and affordable fuel to consumers, we need to start making better use of our own energy resources. The sooner we start saying “yes” to domestic energy supplies, the better.

Sparano is president of the Western States Petroleum Association. The Sacramento-based association represents the petroleum industry in six Western states, including California.

Adding reliable energy supplies to an uncertain market would be welcome news for consumers.

Ending the ban no salve for consumers

By Bruce Reznik

Lifting the moratorium on offshore oil drilling will have no impact on supplies – or gas prices – for decades, if ever, and will do nothing to relieve Californians' current pain at the pump. It will instead only distract us from taking measures that are much more likely to reduce gas prices and our dependence on foreign oil, while combating climate change and other environmental threats.

The U.S. Department of Energy has predicted that even if we open up access to all offshore areas currently closed to development, leasing would begin no sooner than 2012, production would not be expected to start before 2017 and we would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030. Lifting the moratorium is hardly the salve for consumers reeling from rising gas prices, escalating food costs and decreasing home values and real wages. So why such a cacophony over offshore oil leases when we won't feel any effect for decades? Even then, it is likely to be a “drop in the bucket” – perhaps 200,000 barrels a day by 2030 from opening up environmentally sensitive offshore zones, with world demand projected at 100 million barrels per day or more.

The answer is simple: the idea is to divert fed-up consumers' attention away from the oil industry's record-breaking profits, and from measures that could have a real impact on energy independence while President Bush's oil buddies get to buy up the long-term option to eventually exploit more of our coast for their gain. Devoting time, attention or resources to lifting the ban distracts us from moving ahead with investment in alternative sources of energy, improving vehicle fuel-efficiency standards or developing more livable and transit-oriented communities. All these measures can reduce our dependence on foreign oil and relieve financial pressure on consumers far sooner and more significantly than offshore oil drilling, while also reducing our carbon footprint, providing high-paying green-collar jobs and improving local communities – benefits that offshore oil drilling can never provide.

If, for example, we increase fuel efficiency for cars and light trucks from 20 miles per gallon today to 32 over the next 22 years – a modest proposal in light of hybrid technologies – we would save the equivalent of an astounding 3.3 million barrels per day.

Nearly 40 years after the infamous 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill that was one of the major factors in the passage of the federal Clean Water Act, nearly 20 years after the Exxon Valdez disaster that is now synonymous with coastal degradation, and with the destruction of 113 oil platforms by hurricanes Katrina and Rita still fresh in our minds, it is inconceivable that we are back arguing about more offshore oil drilling.

Several years ago, President Bush famously acknowledged our nation's “addiction to oil.” This analogy carries through to today's desperate drive to lift the moratorium in the face of rising gas prices. Decisions made out of desperation, however, are seldom well-reasoned or good for us. Rather than looking for our next “fix,” which offers increasingly diminishing returns, it is time to break our addiction for good.

Reznik is executive director of San Diego Coastkeeper, the region's largest nonprofit environmental organization working to protect San Diego's bays, beaches and watersheds.

Why such a cacophony over offshore oil leases when we won't feel any effect for decades?